Background

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace, and security.

Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is one of the most widespread violations of human rights. It can include physical, sexual, psychological and economic abuse, and it cuts across boundaries of age, race, culture, wealth and geography. It takes place in the home, on the streets, in schools, the workplace, in farm fields, refugee camps, during conflicts and crises.

The growing reach of the Internet, the rapid spread of mobile information and communications technologies (ICTs) and the wide diffusion of social media have presented new opportunities and enabled various efforts to address VAWG. However, they are also being used as tools to inflict harm on women and girls and to perpetrate VAWG. Online and ICT facilitated -VAWG is emerging as a global problem with serious implications for societies and economies around the world. Women in politics, including parliamentarians, are particularly targeted by ICT- facilitated violence. This situation has been compounded with the COVID-19 crisis, which has initiated a shift to the online space and has fueled both online misogyny and ICT-facilitated violence.

Online violence against women refers to any act of gender-based violence against women that is committed, assisted or aggravated in part or fully by the use of ICT, such as mobile phones and smartphones, the Internet, social media platforms or email, against a woman because she is a woman, or affects women disproportionately. While there is still a lack of comprehensive definition and data on online and ICT facilitated violence, research suggests that women are both disproportionately targeted and suffer serious consequences as a result . When women and girls do have access to the Internet, they face online violence more often than men through a continuum of multiple, recurring and interrelated forms of gender-based violence.

In the Arab States, very limited data is available on the prevalence of online and ICT facilitated violence. A recent survey conducted in Morocco highlighted that 14% of women have been exposed to online violence . Anecdotal data from Tunisia confirms similar trends. Moreover, some groups of women in the region, including human rights defenders, women in politics, journalists, bloggers find themselves targeted by ICT-facilitated violence. With the spread of violent extremist ideas in some countries of the 

region, and shrinking space for civil society and women’s rights, violence towards women leaders and activists has increased : In Libya for instance, gender-specific threats and violent language directed at women online constitute a form of violence against women that seeks to silence women in online forums . A recent study conducted by UN Women Regional Office to document the impact of COVID-19 on women and girls in 9 countries in the region highlighted that online violence was the highest reported form of violence by respondents who witnessed or knew a woman who was subjected to violence during the lockdown.   The same trend was noted by civil society organizations in the region as they pointed out an increase in online violence against women.

According to a 2018 study conducted by Amnesty International in eight countries, approximately one in four women reported to have experienced online abuse or harassment.  Around one third stopped expressing their opinions online or withdrew from public conversations as a result.  Further, in 2020, Plan International released its 2020 State of the World’s Girls Report, describing girls’ and young women’s experience of online harassment. More than half of the 14,000 girls surveyed, from around the world, have been harassed and abused online. One in four girls abused online feels physically unsafe as a result. 

International and national laws and trans-national collaborative alliances are slowly evolving to address common global concerns of cyber-VAWG. There is however a consensus around the lack of comprehensive global definition and data on online and ICT-facilitated violence, particularly in the Arab States region.

UN Women is looking to engage a consultant to conduct a desk review to map existing laws and policies in the region related to online violence, and also a mapping of existing services that women can reach out to if subjected to such violence.

Duties and Responsibilities

The overall objective of this assignment is to gather information about the legal frameworks and policies addressing online violence against women in the region and map existing services available for reporting such violence. This consultancy aims to conduct a benchmark of good practices in addressing online violence and responding to women’s needs through the region and beyond and provide policy recommendations on how to address the gaps in the region. The consultant will work under the guidance of the EVAW Regional Programme Specialist to:

1. Conduct a desk review of existing legal and policy frameworks on online violence and regulating online hate and misogynistic speech.
2. Conduct a mapping of existing services and Identify the key stakeholders on online violence against women in the Arab States.
3. Conduct a benchmark of good practices on addressing online violence against women from the region and beyond.
4. Prepare a set of targeted policy recommendations based on the findings.
5. To prepare a preliminary report featuring the key findings of the desk review and mapping of services.
6. Produce a final updated version of the report based on feedback received.

The consultant is expected to hold several follow-up meetings with the EVAW team at the regional office.

Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• Accountability
• Creative Problem Solving
• Effective Communication
• Inclusive Collaboration
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Leading by Example

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf?la=en&vs=637

Functional Competencies

• Strong understanding of and commitment to gender equality and women's empowerment and its policy implications;
• Sensitivity and adaptability regarding culture, gender, religion, race, nationality, and age;
• Excellent written communication skills in English and Arabic, including editing;
• Ability to consolidate information from multiple sources;
• Able to prepare strategic information for decision makers;
• Ability to work independently as well as good team player;
• Excellent time management and ability to produce outputs as per agreed deadlines.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in Social sciences, Law, or Law and Gender Equality, Human Rights Law, or other related relevant academic degree.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• At least 7 years professional experience producing Human Rights analytical legal work, with emphasis on violence against women, freedom of speech or similar areas of work.
• At least 5 years of extensive experience working on sensitive legal environment issues with governments, human rights bodies, civil society, development partners and community based organizations;
• Demonstrated experience in producing reports relating to legal frameworks, in particular relating to Human Rights, Gender and Gender Based Violence is an asset
• Verified practice on producing high quality peer reviewed publications for UN, development partners, government and academic journals is an asset.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency English is required
• Knowledge of French or Arabic is an asset.

Evaluation Criteria:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology: Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation would be considered for the financial evaluation

Applications will be screened and only candidates meeting the following minimum criteria will progress to the pool for shortlisting:

• Master’s degree in Social sciences, Law, or Law and Gender Equality, Human Rights Law, or other related relevant academic degree;
• Language: Fluency in English. Knowledge of Arabic or French is an asset.
• Mandatory submission of UN Personal History form (P11).  
• Brief concept note with proposed methodology, AND two samples of work that show your competence to undertake this assignment.
• Competences and qualifications based on the UN P11 form submitted by each candidate.

Shortlisted Candidates will be interviewed and assessed against the following evaluation criteria.

Technical evaluation (70 points):

• Work sample and motivation letter demonstrate expertise in working on online violence, and the candidate show expertise in existing national legislative frameworks relating to Human Rights, Gender and Gender Based Violence – 30 points
• At least 5 years professional experience working on producing Human Rights advocacy and analytical work, with emphasis on vulnerable or marginalized groups. Previous work focusing on GBV/VAW and legal frameworks relating to GBV/VAW is an asset – 20 points
• Extensive experience working on sensitive legal environment issues with governments, human rights bodies, civil society, development partners and community-based organizations – 20 points

Financial Evaluation (30 points): The points for the Financial Proposal will be allocated as per the following formula:

• Contract will be awarded to the technically qualified consultant who obtains the highest combined score (financial and technical);
• The points for the Financial Proposal will be allocated as per the following formula: (Lowest Bid Offered*)/ (Bid of the Consultant) x 30;
• 'Lowest Bid Offered' refers to the lowest price offered by Offerors scoring at least 49 points in the technical evaluation.

Application:

Interested applicants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

• A cover letter with a brief presentation of your consultancy explaining your suitability for the work and link to portfolio of work;
• UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment;

The above-mentioned documents should be merged in a standalone file including all them, since the online application submission does only permit to upload one file per application. Incomplete submission can be a ground for disqualification.

Note:

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW, and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment.